In Gideon Rachman’s September 16th column titled “Missiles alone cannot secure Washington’s credibility”, Mr. Rachman was right when he said, “The entire episode has left the impression that America’s president […] is increasingly reluctant to deploy military force – even when a U.S. “red line” has been crossed.

But is it true that “ill-conceived military intervention that’s far more damaging to U.S. power than any hesitancy towards the use of force”?

First, at this point no one can make a sound judgment on the issues. If it were possible to view the war in increments of one thousand years, the loss of the war could help Iraq and the rest of Arab world innovate their religious traditions, which I believe to be a prerequisite for them to progress.

Second, contrary to your opinion, this situation requires military intervention.
Right after the U.S.-Russian agreement was made, the BBC covered Assad’s use of cruise missiles. While the peace process continues, President Assad will continue his slaughter of citizens. About 5,000 Syrian people have been dying each day. Children have been bombed at school during class hours.

I’d like to remind my audience that around 80 percent of the casualties, which might actually represent the most conservative death toll estimate, have been killed at the hands of conventional weapons, not chemical weapons.

Why should President Obama focus on a narrow and small band of killing process while ignoring massive atrocities? The removal of chemical weapons is nothing more than measures, which rescue Assad and discourage the Syrian people.

If leaders were to leave the atrocities, as they are, a situation similar to after the 1938 Munich Pact might come true. It could become a nightmare. Syria has already become the large scale version of Auschwitz.

In this world, someone has to draw a moral, red line, not a red line to save the face of the president. If the U.S. follows the spirit of “The Declaration of Independence”, then it must save people’s lives, liberties, and their pursuits of happiness. If you assume the God President Obama believe in, approves killing its own innocent citizens, then American’s God must have been taken over by the Nietzsche’s God, the same one that finally caused the emergence of Hitler.

Hanako Cho
Senior Editor of the Liberty